ORIGIN

The ave could only muster enough strength for the dreaded return to his home. Still yet, he was broken and charred, back feathers falling away into ashes and tail feathers bending painfully. He'd met Cancer along the way... and they'd set a few things straight. But Azazel was still mentally broken, hurt and upset. He felt like someone had jammed a knife into his stomach, and he felt sick at the thought of what he was becoming. The Bone King hardly fit him as a title anymore. He just felt like a piece of poo. Just a waste product.

He was sure nobody was around, so he made a break for the circuit, hiding himself in a familiar crack in the floor-- the same one that he'd hidden in so long ago, when Krakarak and he had awakened a golem by accident. How Azazel missed the days when they were just innocent kids. The bird shifted, squeezing into the bottom and in the shadows the best he could. Carmine eyes were dull and sad, tears beginning to coalesce at the corners. Finally, they formed a streak down his face, and he murmured one thing, "I'm not a king. I'm just a screw-up."

He knew he had friends. So many of them had helped him. Cancer, Bevy's bunch... and now a very special little raven that he hadn't seen in so very long. He shrunk deeper into the crack, hoping he could just disappear. This wouldn't be too good on his wounds and back, but he didn't care. His magicka was drained and he'd heal slowly for a while. No more fighting for Azazel... Bevy had used some of her powers to heal him a little, or at least encourage the natural bacteria in his body to start mending his broken feathers and let the singed ones on his back fall out and be replaced by blood sheaths. A few of the pin-like quills had appeared aready on his dark back, but some patches were bare, and they were the parts that showed upright.

Turning his head and peeking from the crack with dull eyes, the bird found a companion... Krakarak. Instantly, his mood improved, and he shifted so he was at least halfway out of the hole, his back facing away from the corvid. He blinked away tears and smiled meekly. "P-people tell me that," he sighed, "but I don't feel like it." It'd be a while before he felt mighty and strong again. 'Til then, he'd pick up the pieces of what he'd dropped. Then maybe he would try to make things right with that little son of a noodle who'd tried to make a fried turkey dinner for Thanksgiving out of him. But he wouldn't fight him. Maybe there was a way to just... apologize to him? Even if he did throw him at walls a LOT.

That didn't beat a legit thunderstorm to the face.

The ave blinked away his tears, smiling at his ravenesque friend. It made him happier already that he had one friend who'd always be there for him, one who didn't care how much he messed up. With this happiness, magicka ebbed through his veins and his gem shimmered and glowed. Tendrils wreathed themselves around Azazel, coating him in healing essence. Renewed energy surged through him, and he felt a bit fuller of life, much more than he had when he attempted the spell when Bevy was around. Maybe he'd heal faster than he knew it if he kept using his recovery spells... which he somehow had gained in the nick of time when he was so broken.

"Thanks Kraky. I feel a lot better now." Wriggling out of the hole a little more, the bird smiled. He'd been careful not to break any of his blood sheaths that now developed on his back and tail feathers, favoring his shoulders and butt as he moved. It wasn't too bad on his back anymore, but obviously blood could be a problem if he broke some of his pin-like growths. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long.